December 23: DESPITE OUTWARD APPEARANCES
“And He said to me, ‘You are My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.’ Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my work with my God.’” Isaiah 49:3-4
The extreme difficulty of the task assigned to the Redeemer very often left Him discouraged. Here we can see His fully human side. Here, He is showing to the prophet Isaiah – for the first time – that the anointed Servant of Yahweh knows that He must learn to push through discouragement with faith in the future outcome. His task of saving humanity involved teaching His followers the perseverance of true faith in God. Long before He was born into the world as a little baby, He could see the overwhelming periods of discouragement that would accompany His earthly ministry. In His Omniscience, He could enter into a moment of extreme discouragement. In making the statement ‘I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain’ He reveals the human feelings of the Suffering Servant.
The prophet Daniel was also shown the lowly path of discouragement that the Savior was to experience…all the way to the death penalty. Daniel saw that in the final week of years of the seventy weeks prophecy (Daniel 9) the Messiah’s ministry on earth would, at its midpoint, abruptly end in His death, but not for Himself (9:26 KJV). He died for you and me, beloved. At that point it would seem that He shall have nothing (NRSV), not even His own life.
Despite outward appearances and extreme discouragement, Jesus held fast to His faith. The faith of Jesus, which He desires to impart to each of us (Revelation 14:12) is the supreme example of a solid grasp on the ultimate reality to come of redemption and restoration: ‘Yet surely my just reward is with the LORD, And my work with my God.’
One of the great teaching methods in the inspiration of Scripture is the use of contrasts. Thus says the LORD, The Redeemer of Israel, the Holy One, To Him whom man despises, To Him whom the nation abhors, to the Servant of rulers; “Kings shall see and arise, Princes shall also worship, Because of the LORD who is faithful, The Holy One of Israel; And He has chosen You.” (Isaiah 49:7)
Dear reader, there will be times when you feel overwhelmed with discouragement. That is the reality in a world that has fallen under the usurping rule of the ruler of this world (John 12:31), the archenemy of God and His beloved people. But the power of God’s love can remove you from the fallen kingdom – if you want to be removed – and place you safely under His wing of protection. You can know for certain that His longing for you is genuine, and that it is with tears, not coercion, that He offers His guidance to overcome the outward appearances, whatever they are, in this world of temporal glamor, systems of false worship, and cruel discouragement.
“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Matthew 23:37